


Worth Protecting

by Nintendraw



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22156723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nintendraw/pseuds/Nintendraw
Summary: “Come on, don’t cry for me. Smile! Because now as ever, you are worth protecting…”(aka I thought up an alternate death line for Caspar and got sad. Originally posted on Tumblr.)
Kudos: 3





	Worth Protecting

**Author's Note:**

> "such is the fate of heroes: how does your muse die? what legacy do they hope to have left, for better or worse? and what would people actually (likely) remember?"  
> An ask I received and answered here: https://hotheadhero.tumblr.com/post/190092357555 I've reprinted the drabble here, which was the bulk of the original answer, but there's a bit extra stuff on the Tumblr link as well.  
> I intentionally kept the gender/etc. of the one who finds him vague, though given Linhardt is elsewhere on the battlefield, it's clearly not him. Sorry, LinSpar fans x)

He coughs weakly. Struggles to stand. Even getting his shoulders off the ground feels like too much effort. But at least he’d managed to nail that guy before he could hurt his friends. The corpse lies but a few feet away. He grits his teeth, tries valiantly to haul him over, that he can use the body to regain his feet. Pain flares through him in a fiery blaze. Arms buckle beneath him as he cries out - feeble and cut off, for even now he knows he must not be weak. 

_Not yet… Gotta make sure they’re okay…_

Really, he needn’t have bothered, for the one he sought was running up to him. At another time, the sheer panic on his friend’s face would have rallied him instantly to their side - but all he felt right now beyond exhaustion was a profound sense of relief. Relief, and regret that he wouldn’t be seeing this through to the end with them after all.

One look at the bloody gash across his gut, and he knew he’d be gone before the night was through.

_He really got me good… didn’t he. But…_

_I always knew something like this would happen someday…_

“Caspar!” They’re on him now, hauling his upper body haltingly up as they survey the damage. “Stay with me, please! The medics are on their way; they’ll save you!”

“Don’t… worry about it…” The obvious tears blooming upon his companion’s face cause a rock to form in his chest. Much as he’d like to believe there’s some way to fix this, to keep going as he always has, they'd spread themselves out way too thin this fight. Even Linhardt, with whom he was usually inseparable, was at least half a battlefield away - to say nothing of the rest. Lifting his hand off the ground is a trial, but he does it anyway, gloved and callused fingers brushing the side of his companion’s cheek as he pushes their hair aside. (He prays he doesn’t leave any bloodstains there.) “At least I got… to protect you…”

“Caspar!” Their eyes fly open; lashes fling salty droplets off to join the rain. “Please, don’t talk like that! You can’t die on me; you mustn’t!” Their shoulders are shaking now; sorrow spills forth like an overflowed dam. “You mustn’t…” they whisper. “We need you… _I_ need you…”

His expression softens. It would be so easy to cry alongside them - he can already feel reciprocating tears welling in his eyes - but he is Caspar, valiant light of the army, he who lifts others when they’re feeling low. He offers up a grin, even as his heart is bleeding as his body. “Come on… Don’t cry for me. Smile! Because now as ever… you are worth protecting…” 

Their eyes meet his. They see the smile there, forced as it is. Despite themselves, a tiny smile tugs at their lips in turn. Leave it to Caspar to be so brave, to look after others even as he looks upon the face of death. 

It’s a tiny thing, but it is enough. His smile falters, but persists. “That’s it…” His fingers brush the other’s cheek for a moment before they fall. With that, his entire form collapses; it is all they can do to catch his head and hand in theirs. “As long as you remember me with a smile… that is… all I need.“ His already weakening voice fades to a whisper. “Sorry for leaving you so soon… 

“And thanks… for putting up with me.”


End file.
